In a lightweight bout, Tibau unloaded a vicious and sustained barrage of power punches in the second round, but unable to drop or knock out a resilient dos Anjos, he settled for a split-decision victory.

The bout was part of UFC 139 and streamed live on Facebook prior to the night’s Spike TV and pay-per-view
portions of the event.

The fighters traded leather in an evenly matched first round, and dos Anjos scored a late-round takedown. But after getting to his feet quickly, Tibau popped him with the round’s biggest punch.

The second second initially played out much like the first, though Tibau mixed in some solid takedown defense. In the final minute of the round, Tibau unloaded a vicious barrage of punches, mostly with right-left combinations. Dos Anjos seemingly was out on his feet and ate a couple dozen heavy power shots, but he somehow stayed on his feet and survived the round with all his faculties intact.

Dos Anjos opened the final round with a quick left that landed flush, but Tibau scored a takedown midway through the round. The rest of the action in the round proved rather evenly matched.

“He’s a very tough guy, and it was not easy,” Tibau said. “I worked on my boxing and takedowns, and I thought I had a good first takedown. I just tried to take the win and kept going the whole time with no stop.”

In the end, Tibau squeaked by with a split-decision win via 28-29, 29-28 and 30-27 scores.

“In the second round, Gleison had a strong show and did well,” dos Anjos said. “But I think I came back in the third. I think I won the first, and in the third, I had a really good chance, but he just pulled it out. It was a pretty even fight.”

Tibau (24-7 MMA, 9-4) has quietly moved into title contention with his third straight win while dos Anjos (15-6 MMA, 4-4 UFC) sees a recent 4-1 run hit a speed bump.

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